GM Ladile's TL;DR: A Pathfinder Society Campaign

Game Master Lady Ladile

Master Librarian:
Firework (Holy Fountain)
Scroll of Inflict Moderate Wounds (CL 3rd)
Scroll of Inflict Moderate Wounds (CL 3rd)

Alright, leveled up! And based on what I've been hearing here so far, I thought the Bones spirit might be a good pick for a wandering spirit this adventure. Also swapped out the prepared cure X spells for their equivalent inflict X versions.

I know you mentioned you were having some trouble getting into Grandfrogger's character. Is there anything I can do on my end that might help with that?

I really appreciate the offer. I think the biggest thing I'm lacking for him is something he wants. I had some half-baked ideas when I started playing him, but the biggest one was "be mysterious and slightly creepy" and that's... not really a meaningful or long-lasting motivation (both for me and him). But I think I might have a better idea now - and a little friend to help. XD

A brownie familiar! My hope is that they'll prove to be a decent foil/catalyst for the Grandfrogger to get him into the action rather than just watching from the sidelines. I'm only sad that I couldn't find a picture in the available avatars to match the terrifyingly-adorableness that is their 2E artwork.

OMG that is terrifyingly-adorable, holy crap. Maybe put a link in their profile header to that pic?

But then again maybe not, it's already seared into my memory.

I do prefer cookies over brownies.

Sorry, will update Lil" Hep tomorrow, I had some important things to do these last two days.

I like brownies, both the edible and the fey kind ;)

One of my draft, probably never to be played, characters is a bloodrager modelled on Slàine the Barbarian (from the 2000AD comic books), with a brownie familiar serving as his 'royal parasite' a la Ukko, the 'dwarf' companion of Slàine.

*wide eyed horror*

what, Effie, you mean we're not supposed to eat the fey-kind brownies? Ooops..

FYI Lil" Hep" has some money to spend (6717 GP).

What would be useful to the team?

Gah, I forgot something that I bet the Grandfrogger will be curious about - animal companions, familiars, and special mounts may also undergo the ritual so they can better fit in with their surroundings in Geb. So Cherry-Blossom-Tender may also look like a tiny ghoul! How horrifying :O

And for your 'Gee Whiz' file, the scenario specifically notes that eidolons don't necessarily have to undergo the ritual since undead summoners don't necessarily have undead-appearing eidolons, even in Geb.

Um, what about if we're tiny?

Since it's Undead Anatomy I, I think that means your Brownie gets to choose to be a Small or Medium sized undead.

I have updated Maria's stats on the tracking sheet. Her perception got a lot better, including being able to add an inspiration dice for no cost to the rolls.

So...not only did I head out of town for a few days but I also completely forgot to mention that I was doing so and I also did not take my Chromebook with me.

(Not that I would've had the energy to post at the hotel at night, as it turned out, but still.)

I am back now and should have no other foreseeable happenings that would keep me away from the forums for multiple days. There'll likely still be some single-day commitments here and there, mostly relating to the upcoming holidays, as well as occasional work busyness that prevents me from posting but hopefully nothing major.

I hope those who celebrate it had a Happy (US) Thanksgiving or a Happy Thursday if you don't. There are many things that I'm thankful for and one of them is all of the great people I have the privilege of playing Pathfinder with - like you guys :)

The mummy left us a bit back in town.

Shoot! I scanned specifically for that when I was catching up! Just ignore that bit.

Just been having a look over possible scenarios for GMing during NostalgiaCon in January. Effie will need a couple of xp to keep up when I bring in 'guest' PCs for Bloodcove Blockade and ToRR so I'm looking at tier 5-9.

Orders from the Gate is a fine scenario that I played with another PC - but thinking back to it, I'd quite like Effie to play it rather than apply GMxp.

So I looked at our upcoming games now that our player roster has changed a bit, and checked out GM Ladile's group for this campaign on PFS Tracker.

A couple more of us have played Orders from the Gate before, so like some other options it would need replays to be spent if we did do it.

But there is a list of tier 5-9s that none of us have played, should we wish to change the plan. I know a couple of us have played Midnight Mauler and Maria has GM'd it, for example.

Anyway, no rush. I am possibly going to GM The Ghennett Manor Gauntlet for NostalgiaCon. Also considering Bonekeep 1 or 2 if there's demand and if I'm not "star-barred".

^Thanks for pointing all of this out, Effie. I'll check through the proposed scenario list and then the tracker and see if there's anywhere we can make some changes, so as to cut down on the amount of replays people have to spend.

Conversely, if there are any scenarios on the list that everyone/someone really wants to play with this group/their character, that's also good information to have.
______________

In other news, if anyone happened to be wondering, I'm going to sit NostalgiaCon out as a GM for sure and probably as a player as well. I might jump in on the 2e special as a player but that would be it (still noodling this one over). This is mostly due to work/scheduling reasons as my current work rotation has shifted to working 6 out of 7 nights and then being off for 6 out of 7 nights (or, another way of putting it, it's 3 on, 1 off, 3 on, 3 off, 1 on, 3 off).

Essentially working almost a full week straight every other week isn't leaving me a ton of free time during that period. Work has also been busier in general so I've had less downtime to post from there and half the time when I *do* have some downtime, I can't concentrate on writing anything. And of course during my time off there's errands and chores to be done and since it's December there's the usual holiday hustle & bustle and and and...

*takes a deep breath*

Well, suffice it to say I've been busy lately and I think it would be a poor decision to add more games to my plate at this time. But don't worry, I'm still here, just busier than usual. As always, thank you for your patience :)

I'd add that if folks are looking at the Tracker for scenarios for all of us, that I will likely only play in one table during NostalgiaCon. I really want to run one, to give back to the community, but the beginning of January this year will be an unusually strange time for me. I've got soooo many characters, I'd love to try to get one of my lesser used ones into a game, and that'll be it for me.

@GM: Wow, that's the weirdest schedule I've ever seen (even compared to mine!) It certainly makes it tough to deal with daily commitments, and being nights is even tougher. Hang in there. You know you're loved and appreciated, and our patience knows no bounds.

Any ideas how we tackle the Pharasmins?

Effie's pretty bad at nonlethal, until she can acquire some Merciful ammo, and it doesn't look like they can be dissuaded by conversation!

Also, seconding what Nomadical says GM. My own work schedule isn't 9-5 but it's not shift work and I'm fortunate to have a good deal of flexibility. Still, there are circumstances when I just have to be at a particular place at a particular time, no matter how ungodly the hour :o I'm thankful those occasions are relatively rare these days.

Nonlethal occurred to me, but the fight will attract attention and if we knock out three quick they will be likely eaten by anyone coming to see what is up. Running away seems like the best choice. They would think it weird, for sure, but probably shouldn’t mess too much up?

I might be tempted to GM a PFS for the first time with Nostalgiacon

If so, and you want/are able to play, you will be most welcome.

Spankings will be kept at minimal value.

I might be tempted to GM a PFS for the first time with Nostalgiacon

If so, and you want/are able to play, you will be most welcome.

Depending on what you choose to run, that would be great.

Spankings will be kept at minimal value.

Bu why? That's the whole fun of having you run!

Hepsubia Althein wrote:

Spankings will be kept at minimal value.
Bu why? That's the whole fun of having you run!

Let's say I don't have the same minimal value than most. ^^

I'm loving this undead template stuff. I'm also thrilled that it is an alchemist elixir. It's not available until Maria hits level 9, but still tis cool enough she might grab it then for 'fun'.

It's definitely a rather unusual scenario and set-up, isn't it? Not too many adventures (yet) taking place in Geb, after all...

Hey folks, I hope everyone had a good holiday if you celebrate or a good Saturday if holidays aren't your thing! We finished up the last of our festivities a short time ago so I look to be back to a more regular posting schedule later today/tomorrow (since it's very early Sunday here) :)

I work over the holidays cause I don't have folks to spend it with anyway. Plus, someone's gotta haul those presents when Santa's suffering from supply chain disruptions.

In reality, though, I landed in Sydney on Christmas morning. We thought we would be on hotel lockdown throughout our 24-ish hour layover. Our Xmas surprise was that they handed each of us a rapid test kit and said as long as we passed we were free to "take a wander." Yay! Summertime Christmas at a beach front hotel! Now that's a holiday!

Hope everyone else got good surprises, too!

Nice! Even though I've been conditioned by popular media and the general weather trends of the region to associate Christmas with cold weather, I do think it'd be fun to have a beachy Christimas holiday at least once :)

We had a nice holiday here, all things considered. Work kept DH from attending any of his family's usual gatherings but I was able to go and represent us on Christmas Eve before heading to work myself and we both got to go to my family's thing Christmas night. Everyone received gifts both practical and fun and even the cats got gifts!

(My mom has to spoil something/someone and there are no grandkids in the picture, so...)

Yesterday and today has been spent largely lounging at home, taking care of small tasks around the house, catching up on sleep, and not going out or seeing a blessed soul besides each other :)

When traveling there she mutters to herself, "Oh yeah, super hard to tell if something is living when you stab it and it screams and blood sprays everywhere. Yeah, totally difficult."

My own personal headcanon says that Kuryn and his friends must've absolutely caught Joktan & Co. with their collective pants down via ambush in order to have killed them all before realizing something wasn't quite right...

Or they responded more like Holan-Ji than Zithembe when attacked. ;)

Happy New Year! I hope your celebrations have been as wild or as tame as suits your preference :)

Happy new year.
Many spankings to you! ^^

Happy New Year y’all. Had a nice celebration with the in-laws last night. Kids ran around entertaining everyone.

Moderately big changes coming for my family this year. House is being sold at the end of this month. We have a place to stay, but haven’t found a house to buy yet in the area we want to move.

Are we subject to holy water damage? Based on the scenario "undead template" that we're applying, I think perhaps no?

In this form, you will detect as an undead creature (such as with Detect Undead, but not with magic that reveals your true form, such as True Seeing) and are treated as undead for the purposes of channeled energy, cure spells, and inflict spells, but not for other effects that specifically target or react differently to undead (such as Disrupt Undead, Hide from Undead, and Searing Light).

(emphasis mine)

Oops. I forgot to add in a held chronicle (I thought I had it held at 7th, but that's a different one). Nothing changes that has happened so far, just adds a few consumable boon abilities.

For something totally different:

The larch.

Warhammer Adventures

if someone is interested in Warhammer 4th Edition

And finally, an update!

Hepsubia and Zith already know this because they've seen me rant about it elsewhere but work has been a booger and I've been pulling OT since our only other FT night shift tech is out with COVID.

With 3 out of 4 ghouls down and the remaining one closer to Holan-Ji, Zithembe would have advanced 20 ft further into the crypt since no bad guys left to reasonably expect to advancie on him, if allowed.

^That's fine!

^That's fine!

She says with an evil gleam in her eye. ;)

I'm just going to let Hotshot have her day with that freaking beastly burst. Delay to see what happens. 4x crit hot damn.

Only the third ever pistol crit from Effie - and two of them have been against enemies that can't be critted!

I feel like that had surprisingly few HP... :)

You guys are in the Tier 5-6 subtier so it had 90 HP :)

Also, like...this is a Season 2 scenario and we've got a pounce-monster, an archer, and a gunslinger in the group. Kinda expected you guys to shred combats barring abysmal initiative rolls :)

Weapon song doesn't hurt.. and for a few moments, Hepsubia can do some damage too with bloodraging (fire+Lighting, 2d6 more dmg, +2 bonus to hit/dmg, usually some sceance bonus...)

It appears Hep and I are the only two now without natural darkvision. I'm thinking perhaps we might look into using that to our advantage. Darkvision is a level 2 alchemist elixir (or a moderately cheap potion, 300g). Darkness is a level 2 shaman/bard spell. Thoughts?

If we wanted to enact it as a plan now, I think we could get some potions and a scroll. Later I think spell/elixir slots could be used without much loss.

Obviously most monsters have darkvision, so we would only use it in the situations when our opponents were more mundane. But it could be incredibly effective at those times.

Holan-Ji can see in the dark just fine. But...

When he shifts to large dire tiger form, he loses his darkvision and gains only low-light vision and scent.

His next form (dragonfly) - which he gets when he levels up after this current scenario - does have darkvision, but it's more of a utility and special circumstance form rather than a {ahem} "pounce-monster."

I've used darkness with party-wide darkvision in other games, and it's been a very good strategy against, as you say, more mundane or humanoid opponents. I fully support the plan, just wanted to point out his one small limitation.

It's worth having Darkvision consumables, because when you need it you need it :o

But I tend to place it lower down the list of desirables than Fly, Remove Blindness/Deafness, and Daylight (all of which come within the 2PP purchase option for a potion).

Stealth can certainly be helpful on occasion, though we're generally very noisy fighters! (Says the bard with the gun).

150gp for a scroll is cheap as chips though :)

But you can't read the scroll in the dark. This came up once. GM even asked how we were determining which of our potions were which in the dark. {eye-roll} I said I had carved 2 bumps in the cork - for things that "go bump in the dark."

I get the scroll stuff, but that seems a bit extreme related to potions. But then again, there are definitely those kinds of GMs and players out there so who am I to judge what people find fun? Extreme observance of every possible detail? So be it. You did well just coming up with a logical response and moving on.

Anyway, just let me know if that is a tactic we want to enact and Maria will get a potion of darkvision (or prep an elixir when she hits lvl 6). She already has a daylight oil and is working towards the other things with PP purchases and extra coin here and there.

To be fair, some characters do carry 6 wands, 10 different potions, and 20 different kinds of arrows - how much time must they spend checking their packing every day? :D

{ahem} "pounce-monster."

Apologies, I should've said 'Pounce Master'. Maybe 'Pounce Machine'? ;)

But for real, you guys are a pretty efficient team and part of the fun of GMing for a steady group is watching the characters (hopefully) develop into a well-oiled machine of a team :)

"Pouncelina"?